An electronic mobile device (e.g., a wireless mobile device), such as a cell phone, a tablet, or other electronic mobile device, today is able to determine its location when it's connected to a network such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) or to a network that provides an Internet connection. Networks that allow Internet connections may include wireless wide area networks (WWAN) such as cellular networks that communicate using radio access technologies (RATs such as Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), 4G LTE or other radio access technologies) as well as wireless local area networks (WLAN) such as Wi-Fi networks. Based on information obtained from these networks, an electronic mobile device may determine which country it is located in. When an electronic mobile device determines which country it is located in, the electronic mobile device may adjust one of its services (e.g., application, operating system (OS) task). For example, the electronic mobile device may display the country the mobile device is located in when the mobile device enters a new country.
Assuming an electronic mobile device is equipped with operable GPS supporting equipment, an electronic mobile device is able to obtain its latitude and longitude positions via GPS. The electronic mobile device may then determine which country it is in by mapping the latitude and longitude to a particular country (e.g., United States of America). For example, the electronic mobile device may access an Internet based server to determine its country location based on the obtained latitude and longitude positions. However, determining a country of an electronic mobile device via GPS presents various issues. For example, to receive latitude and longitude positions from the GPS, the GPS supporting equipment associated with the electronic mobile device must be turned on and thus consumes battery power. In addition, the electronic mobile device must still map the obtained latitude and longitude positions to a country, which as mentioned above, may be performed by a server lookup which will require an Internet connection.
Another option, for an electronic mobile device that is connected to and registered with a base station (e.g., eNB), to determine its country location is to scan a base station cell of the base station for a country code. The country code may be included in cell information that is transmitted by the base station. For example, as known in the art, a base station may provide one or more base station cells, where each base station cell provides network access over a geographic region. For example, a country code may be included in cell information that is transmitted by a base station over a base station cell. As known in the art, a SIM profile, typically associated with a SIM card, allows a subscriber to identify and authenticate with a network. For example, an electronic mobile device with a subscriber identification module (SIM) profile that is compatible with a SIM profile associated with a base station cell may scan the base station cell to obtain the country code. Because the country code indicates a country associated with the base station cell, the electronic mobile device is able to determine the country it's located in. This solution, however, also presents various issues. For example, the electronic mobile device must be registered with the base station providing the country code. If the electronic mobile device is not registered, the electronic mobile device is unable to obtain the country code, as the country code is unavailable to unregistered devices. In addition, depending on the WWAN that the base station provides access to, country code information may not be available. As another option, an electronic mobile device connected to a network, such as WWAN or WLAN network, that provides an Internet connection may also be able to determine its location based on an Internet Protocol (IP) address. For example, if connected to a WWAN providing Internet access, an electronic mobile device may query an Internet based server to determine which country its assigned IP address belongs to.
These solutions, however, also present various issues. First, these solutions require an Internet connection. In addition, if the electronic mobile device receives a new IP address, the electronic mobile device would need to re-query an Internet based server to determine which country the new IP address is associated with. This re-querying, however, consumes battery power of the electronic mobile device. Moreover, electronic mobile devices may be located in an area such that they have no working connection, e.g., no Wi-Fi connection, or no wireless network supporting a compatible SIM profile. As such, there are opportunities for determining a country location of, and providing country detection to, an electronic mobile device.